Voices of 2025
Donna Jones Alward
Since 2006, Donna Jones Alward has enchanted readers with stories of happy endings and homecomings that have won several awards and been translated into over a dozen languages. She’s worked as an administrative assistant, teaching assistant, in retail and as a stay-at-home-mom, but always knew her degree in English Literature would pay off, as she is now happy to be a full-time writer. Her new historical fiction tales blend her love of history with characters who step beyond their biggest fears to claim the lives they desire.
Donna currently lives in Nova Scotia, Canada. You can often find her near the water, either kayaking on the lake or walking the sandy beaches to refill her creative well. Find her online at www.donnajonesalward.com.
Antonio Michael Downing
Antonio Michael Downing is the author of the acclaimed memoir Saga Boy and children’s book, Stars in My Crown. Antonio Michael is the current host of the CBC Radio program The Next Chapter where he discusses books with authors and columnists. He spends his time writing books, singing songs, and trying to make his grandma proud. Black Cherokee is his debut novel.
Linden MacIntyre
Linden MacIntyre’s bestselling first novel, The Long Stretch, was nominated for a CBA Libris Award and his boyhood memoir, Causeway: A Passage from Innocence, won both the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-fiction and the Evelyn Richardson Award. His second novel, The Bishop’s Man, was a #1 national bestseller, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Dartmouth Book Award and the CBA Libris Fiction Book of the Year Award, among other honours. The third book in the loose-knit trilogy, Why Men Lie, was also a #1 bestseller as well as a Globe and Mail “Can’t Miss” Book. His novels Punishment and The Only Cafe were also national bestsellers, as was his 2019 work of non-fiction, The Wake. A distinguished broadcast journalist, MacIntyre, who was born in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, and grew up in Port Hastings, Cape Breton, spent twenty-four years as the co-host of the fifth estate. He has won ten Gemini awards for his work. MacIntyre lives in Toronto with his wife, the journalist and author Carol Off. They spend their summers in a Cape Breton village by the sea.
Ashley Anne Clark
Ashley Anne Clark, a visual artist from Prince Edward Island, Canada, holds a BFA from Concordia University. Having lived globally, she creates art that highlights animal intelligence and biodiversity, using branches and seaweed sourced from local forests and shorelines. Her work has appeared in international galleries, on award winning album covers and as large-scale murals. By providing a closer look into the lives of animals, she fosters empathy and inspires conservation, making complex ideas accessible for all ages. Find her online at www.ashleyanneclark.com.
Susan Christensen
Susan Christensen has a passion for the arts and for her island home. She has travelled extensively, enabling her to appreciate the beauty and serenity of Prince Edward Island.
“Each spring, as I see the land awaken with its lush red soil, the greens of the trees and fields, the blues of the ocean and sky, I feel an awakening in my soul and a renewing of my deep love for this island that has always been my home.” Susan has shown her artwork both locally and internationally.
Her image “Beach Walk, PEI” was chosen to represent PEI at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Her art was also featured on the Marilyn Dennis TV show in the fall of 2022.
Mo Duffy
Mo Duffy is the Co-Founder and Editorial Director of Pownal Street Press. After teaching English Language Arts for ten years, she received her MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction in 2015, and is the author of Unpacked: from PEI to Palawan (Pottersfield Press, 2017), The Chemistry of Innovation: Regis Duffy and the Story of DCL (Island Studies Press, 2021), Crescent Moon Friends (Acorn Press, 2022), and A is for Anne (2023). Her work has been featured in The Globe and Mail, Montreal Writes, Write Magazine, Literary Mama, The Malahat Review, and Atlantic Books Today. Mo is currently working on her next nonfiction collection, Radiant White Light, and lives in beautiful Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Find her online at moduffycobb.com.
Sarah Emsley
Sarah Emsley is the author of Jane Austen’s Philosophy of the Virtues and a history of St. Paul’s in the Grand Parade, the church in Halifax, Nova Scotia where Jane Austen’s niece Cassy was baptized in 1809. She received her PhD from Dalhousie University, held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, taught classes on Austen in the Writing Program at Harvard University, and now lives in Halifax with her family. She has hosted several blog series celebrations of works by Jane Austen and L.M. Montgomery at www.sarahemsley.com, and she edited a collection of essays on Jane Austen and the North Atlantic for the Jane Austen Society. The Austens is her first novel.
Sheree Fitch
Sheree Fitch published Toes in My Nose in 1987 and has been an award-winning poet and author ever since. She says her Grade Two teacher and a visit to Green Gables inspired her dream of becoming a writer. She and her late husband owned and operated Mabel Murple’s Book Shoppe and Dreamery for five years minus the year of Covid in River John, Nova Scotia. She is currently writing and dreaming of plans for opening the Dreamery one day again. A lifelong literacy advocate, she an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Lori Gard
Lori Gard, M.Sc, M.Ed, is a writer, Canadian Certified Counsellor, and nationally certified Solution-Focused Therapist with CCPC Global. She currently works as a K–6 school counselor. Lori has written for Huffington Post, Edutopia, the Yummy Mummy Club, PEI Living Magazine, and PEI’s Red Magazine. She is the author of the Tales for Big Feelings series. Lori lives in Mill River East, PEI, with her husband and their four children. Find her online at lorigard.com.
Stuart Hickox
Stuart Hickox is the writer of the Canada’s Food Island Cookbook, a national best-selling lifestyle book that celebrates the sensory experience of food across four seasons in Prince Edward Island. A longtime social entrepreneur, activist, former travel and social justice writer, his work has appeared in Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, among others, and has been published in 13 languages. He lives in a hand-built cabin named Walden in Hartsville, PEI, which has served as a creative retreat and gathering place for over 30 years.
Deirdre Kessler
Deirdre Kessler is a poet, a former Poet Laureate of Prince Edward Island, and author of over two dozen books for children and adults, including a series of six children’s novels, recently published in one volume: Adventures of an Island Cat Named Brupp. Her recent adult novel, Darwin’s Hornpipe, was shortlisted for P.E.I. fiction award. Lobster in My Pocket is a Canadian Children’s Book Centre Award winner and a Maritime classic picture book, published by Nimbus Publishing. Deirdre is a sessional professor with the University of Prince Edward Island English Department, where she teaches creative writing, children’s literature, and the course on L.M. Montgomery. She studies and practices Iyengar yoga.
Genevieve Loughlin
Genevieve Loughlin is the Co-Founder and Publisher of Pownal Street Press. A graduate of the Masters of Publishing program at Simon Fraser, Genevieve has worked in the publishing industry for over two decades. She began her career in the marketing department of Raincoast Books during the Harry Potter years and moved on to be an award-winning sales representative for Canadian and international publishers for the Atlantic and Ottawa Valley regions. Genevieve now calls Charlottetown her home and is passionate about creating beautiful books.
Keir Lowther
Keir Lowther is the author of Dirty Bird, winner of the 2013 Margaret and John Savage First Novel Award at the Atlantic Book Awards, shortlisted for a Relit Award, a PEI Book Award for Fiction, and the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize. He is a former nationally ranked junior tennis player and provincial tennis champion. He lives in Prince Edward Island with his wife, daughter, son and dog.
Carrie Lundy
Carrie Lundy is a school teacher, yoga instructor and author who leads with an open heart, something that comes through in her writing and teaching. She enjoys communing with nature, immersing herself in new places and people, and learning more about the mind-body-heart connection. Lundy has been teaching on her mat and in the classroom for 16 years. In 2022, she published her first book, So Hum, a collection of poetry capturing love and loss through the lens of yoga. Find her online at www.carrielundy.ca.
Doug MacLean
Doug MacLean is a former professional hockey coach, general manager, and team executive. He was the president and general manager of the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets and was also the head coach of the Florida Panthers. He became a sportscaster for Sportsnet, eventually cohosting the popular Hockey Central at Noon radio show and regularly appearing as a panelist on Hockey Central television. He lives in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Doug MacLean, one of the game’s biggest personalities, reveals how teams build for greatness—or fail to—on hockey’s most anticipated day. A Moneyball for hockey.
Sandra McIntyre
Sandra McIntyre is a writer, book editor, and occasional writing instructor. Her short fiction has been published in Freq and Prairie Fire. With twenty-five years of experience both in-house and freelance, she’s edited two anthologies of short fiction and hundreds of books. Through Parlay Manuscript Services, she specializes in fiction editing and publishing support for writers. Sandra holds an MA in English from Dalhousie University. She lives with her family in Nova Scotia’s beautiful Annapolis Valley.
Caitlyn Paxson
Caitlyn Paxson has a degree in writing and cultural history and has worked as the artistic director of storytelling performances, a harpist, a book reviewer, a 19th century jack of all trades, a shepherdess, and a fake Victorian spirit medium. She lives on Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island) with her husband and three orange cats. Her debut novel, A Widow’s Charm, is forthcoming from Doubleday Canada in March 2026.
A Widow’s Charm is a Comedy of Errors-esque fantasy romance in which a clever widow blackmails her rakish necromancer neighbor to bring her husband back to life and save her home—only to find herself falling for him.
Smita Prakash
Smita was born and raised in New Delhi, India. An interior designer by profession, she has always had a keen interest in Yoga. Her quest to delve deeper into the knowledge of self led her to join the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy headquartered in ValMorin, Quebec. In 2020-2021 she completed her 800 hrs of teachers training (TTC) and advanced teachers training (ATTC) at the Sivananda ashrams in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in south India earning herself a Master in Yoga, MY and YPM member of the Indian Yoga Association. She has been conducting classes in Hatha Yoga specialising in the Sivananda lineage taught through the Guru disciple tradition in India and Canada. She started her journey with her husband on Prince Edward Island in 2021 and is looking forward to being an integral part of the Yoga community of the island. Sivananda Yoga follows the 5 fold paths – proper breathing, proper exercise, proper diet, proper relaxation & most importantly meditation with positive thinking. She would like to share this beautiful knowledge through her classes for the benefit of the community.
Theresa Redmond
Theresa Redmond has worked as a senior executive with the Canadian government and consultant on Indigenous rights issues.
Theresa has published numerous articles, including in the Globe and Mail, The Guardian (Charlottetown), The Eastern Graphic, RED Magazine, and the Ottawa Citizen, for which she was awarded a prize for her travel article on Costa Rica.
In 2022, Theresa published her debut novel, Bound, a fictionalized account of a tumultuous year in St. John’s Island, a British North American colony. Bound has received both popular and literary success, garnering a Heritage Recognition Award (P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation), a Silver Medal for Best Fiction in the Canada-East category (Independent Publishers Book Awards), and the 2024 PEI Book Award for Fiction.
The Governor’s Granddaughter, Theresa’s second novel, coming soon, tells a fascinating story of a young woman living under the shadow of her family’s shameful past who becomes determined to atone for their misdeeds.
Theresa lives in eastern PEI with her husband, their Golden Retriever and couple of rescued cats.
Elizabeth Retter
An elementary teacher for 25 years, Elizabeth Retter has developed a love for children’s books of all styles. Her background in theater and voice add to the songful tone and rhythm of her stories. Through interactive read-alouds, sing-alongs and school visits, she turns reading into a captivating experience. Elizabeth, author of The Adventures of Easton the Rescue Pet series, is also a certified dog handler at the Toronto Humane Society. Through Easton’s story, she hopes to shine a light on the need for all rescue animals to find their forever homes. Find her online at elizabethretter.com.
Laura Robinson
Laura Robinson is a professor of English and Theatre and Women’s and Gender Studies at Acadia University. Former Visiting Scholar at the L.M. Montgomery Institute at the University of Prince Edward Island, she is now the Chair of the LMMI’s Management Committee. She has published many articles on Montgomery’s work, most recently on Netflix’s “Anne with an E” in L.M. Montgomery in Conversation about Children and Childhood(s). With E. Holly Pike, she edited the volume L.M. Montgomery and Gender (MQUP 2021). She acted as a consultant on Historica Canada’s L.M. Montgomery Heritage Minute, the Inspiring World of L.M. Montgomery Literary Tour in PEI, the Royal Canadian Mint’s L.M. Montgomery Commemorative coin, and a full-length documentary of Montgomery’s life that is in progress. She curated a multi-media exhibit that travelled internationally over the four-year centenary of The Great War, entitled, “The Canadian Homefront: L.M. Montgomery’s Reflection on the First World War.” She is also a consulting editor for the Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies.
Tom Ryan
Tom Ryan is the internationally bestselling author of an adult mystery, The Treasure Hunters Club, in addition to the YA mystery Keep This to Yourself, winner of the 2020 ITW Thriller Award for Best Young Adult Novel, the 2020 Arthur Ellis Award for Best YA Crime Book, and the 2021 Ann Connor Brimer Award. It’s currently being adapted for television. His follow-up YA mystery, I Hope You’re Listening, was the winner of the 2021 Lambda “Lammy” Award for Best LGBTQ Mystery. Tom, his husband, and their dog live in Nova Scotia.
JoDee Samuelson
Born and raised on the Canadian prairies, filmmaker and artist JoDee Samuelson has lived on the beautiful south shore of Prince Edward Island for the past forty years. Drawing has always been a big part of JoDee’s life. Her interest in filmmaking began when she took part in an animation workshop at Island Media Arts Co-op in 1989. Since then her animated films (The Bath, The Sandbox, Mabel’s Saga, Uncle Bob’s Hospital Visit, and more) have been shown at festivals around the world, winning numerous awards for the Island filmmaker.
She writes a column called “The Cove Journal” for Charlottetown’s monthly arts magazine THE BUZZ. In 2018 these columns became a book, The Cove Journal, published by Island Studies Press at the University of Prince Edward Island.
JoDee is a musician, wood carver, painter, gardener, bread baker, community activist, and member of her local Women’s Institute.
Kate Scarth
Kate Scarth is the Chair of L.M. Montgomery studies with the L.M. Montgomery Institute and associate professor in applied communication, leadership, and culture at the University of Prince Edward Island. She is the presenter of “The Life and Work of L.M. Montgomery,” an Audible Original/The Great Courses class (forthcoming August 2025); the editor of the Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies; and project co-coordinator of Your L.M. Montgomery Story with Trinna S. Frever. She has written about L.M. Montgomery and Jane Austen.
Katie Stetson
A Registered Emergency Nurse, Katherine shifted gears to become a comprehensive mental health nurse. Diving head-first into best practices, Katherine’s studies have covered many topics, including cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and trauma-informed care. A yoga teacher, Reiki Master, and certified in Meditation and Mindfulness, her passion for making a difference in the lives of her patients has become a loving vocation.
Sarah Visser
Sara Visser is a teacher in a rural K–9 school. Holding a Master of Education degree in inclusive education, she is dedicated to helping all students recognize their strengths and creating a positive and inclusive learning environment. This is Sara’s first children’s book, which was inspired by the joy of watching her kids on the ice. She resides in Orwell, Prince Edward Island, with her husband and three children.
Thomas Wharton
Thomas Wharton has been published in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., France, Italy, Japan and other countries. His first novel, Icefields, won the 1996 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book Canada and the Caribbean and was also a 2008 CBC Canada Reads pick. His next book, Salamander, was shortlisted for the 2001 Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and was also a finalist for the Roger’s Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize the same year. In 2006, Wharton’s collection of stories, The Logogryph, was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. His latest novel, The Book of Rain, was a finalist for the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize and the 2024 Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction and has sold rights in France and Russia. His new book Wolf, Moon, Dog will be available just in time for the Festival. He really enjoys audience interaction and would be especially excited to hear any dog stories! Wharton currently lives near Edmonton, Alberta.
Your Moderators
Laura Chapin
Laura Chapin is an award-winning journalist who worked with CBC for 30 years before retiring earlier this year. She is a published playwright, with a few writing projects currently on the go. As an avid reader Laura is thrilled to be involved in the first Cavendish Literary Festival.
Jessica Doria-Brown
Jessica Doria-Brown is a multi-platform journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Prince Edward Island. Prior to moving to PEI in 2014, Jessica worked for CBC in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario. Most recently, she’s worked as producer for Island Morning, CBC PEI’s morning radio current affairs program. She lives in Charlottetown with her partner and four children.
Antonio Michael Downing
Antonio Michael Downing is the author of the acclaimed memoir Saga Boy and children’s book, Stars in My Crown. Antonio Michael is the current host of the CBC Radio program The Next Chapter where he discusses books with authors and columnists. He spends his time writing books, singing songs, and trying to make his grandma proud. Black Cherokee is his debut novel.
George Matthews
For hockey fans on Prince Edward Island over the past four decades there is one voice that has filled the airwaves with the most regularity, and with the most professionalism and prominence – George Matthews. George’s prodigious talent, energy, and passion took him all the way to the NHL and a career that included over thirteen years and 1,040 games as the radio voice of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The best estimate we have is that George is close to surpassing the 3000 game mark over the course of his broadcasting career, when you take into account the 23 plus years spent broadcasting hockey on the local scene, followed by the 13 years working in Columbus, and now in his 7th year as the voice of the Charlottetown Islanders.
When it comes to broadcasting, George Matthews is clearly in a league of his own. He truly is a homegrown success story who has helped to grow the game of hockey locally, and on the bigger stage as well. Islanders have been blessed to have George among us for four plus decades; his enshrinement into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame, was a most fitting, and appropriate, bookend to one outstanding broadcasting career.
Vanessa Smith
Vanessa is a seasoned marketing professional with over 14 years of experience on both the client and agency side of marketing. Now operating her own business, Refy Agency, Vanessa offers clients marketing strategies, campaign development, photo and video creative direction, and training on topics such as social media, marketing, branding and customer service. Beyond her work, Vanessa hosts the Business in the Open podcast, interviewing local PEI entrepreneurs, is a member of the Reading Between the Wines bookclub and is embracing life as a brand new mom to her 8-month old daughter.
Musicians
Olivia Blacquiere
Prince Edward Islander, Olivia Blacquiere has an extraordinary way of captivating audiences with stories told through song. Rooted in the Island’s rich cultural traditions, she draws inspiration from generations of step dancers, storytellers, and musicians who have nurtured her deep connection to music.
For Olivia, music starts at the heart. She was raised where PEI’s rugged red soil meets the gentle stillness of the sea — a place alive with kitchen parties, fiddle tunes, and stories shared from one generation to the next.
Whether lighting up a stage or sharing songs in everyday moments, Olivia embraces the joy of musical expression through her melodies on the piano and guitar, weaving heart and heritage into every note. Her voice carries the soul of her ancestors and the spirit of a new generation, blending timeless tradition with a vibrant, distinctly personal sound.
Luka Hall & Sydney Thompson
Hailing from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Luka Hall & Sydney Thompson are a folk duo known for charming audiences with their authenticity, musicianship, and the kind of harmonies that only come from a true musical connection. Luka, a talented singer-songwriter, guitarist, and fiddle player, brings depth and musical finesse to every performance. Sydney, a captivating vocalist, adds warmth and soul with a voice that stops audiences in their tracks.
Lawrence Maxwell
Lawrence Maxwell cut his teeth on beer caps, rough waters, and country music. His latest album, Ballad of Miles was nominated for seven Music PEI Awards, and in 2024, he received the award for Music PEI’s ‘Entertainer of the Year.’ His songs have received airplay on: Sirius XM’s ‘Top of the Country,’ Country Hits Radio UK and CBC ‘Q’. With its neo-traditional production, and comparisons to both John Prine and Merle Haggard, Roots Music Canada has dubbed the record “the first great Canadian alt-country album of the year.” His music video for “Back to Cape Breton” was a finalist in the Canadian Independent Music Video Awards and his song “Better You” was selected in the Top 100 for CBC/Toyota Searchlight. Having completed his first series of international performances at Tønder Festival in Denmark and Manchester Folk Festival in the UK, Maxwell is expanding his audience as he exports into new markets. As an ECMA award nominee and four-time Music P.E.I. award winner, this Prince Edward Island singer-songwriter will tell it to you like it’s folk, and sing it to you like it’s country.